School's Out
by Novice4129
Summary: Dartz Dharke was extatic about his wife's return from a mission. And he knew that their children would also be happy about their mother coming back. Although he was partly worried about Valerian. The boy had grown distant and reclusive lately. Hopefully it's nothing serious.


**AN: Freaking eff! My portable hard drive decided to sever its contract. Meaning that I now have no access to some of the writings I've done outside of my home. I'm now posting this as a bit of a... pick me up. In this we learn a bit about Dartz, the man who was crazy enough to fall in love with Yrsa Bloodspray.**

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School's Out

Dartz was extatic as he was closing the shop for the night. Yrsa had sent him a message earlier this day and told him that she would be home tonight. The large shokeep knows that his wife's titles aren't for show, but there is still a tiny voice at the back of his head that worries about her not returning home from a mission one day. But he knew what he got himself into the moment he chose to marry a huntress. Anyway, he was sure that Valerian and Ezra would be more than happy to have their mommy home. At least when they wake up tomorrow.

As he finished locking up the shop and retreated to the apartment portion of the building, he already heard the side door opening and closing.

"Honeyyyyy, I'm home," came the teasing tone of Yrsa from further in the apartment.

As Dartz walked into the house he gave his wife a dry reply, "Great, where's the child-support?" And then he chuckled as Yrsa also chuckled to their little joke. Dartz had just entered the living room to the sight of Yrsa kicking her slightly worn combat boots off into the small shoe rack. "So, how was the mission," Dartz asked his darling wife.

"If you meant the pay, then it was decent," Yrsa said dismissively, "But if you meant if I had any problems, then same old." The last one was added with a smile. Although that "same old" was the fact that the people who hired her were disappointed that the Raging Demon didn't die. It should also be noted that the pay from Yrsa's missions are significantly higher than for most others huntsmen and huntresses, because most of the missions she takes are ones that no one else will take. "How about you," Yrsa then asked before flopping down on the couch.

"Fine thanks," Dartz replied before clearing his throat a little, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Urgh, whatever," Yrsa complained before moving to a locked chest and producing a key from her neck to open it and dropping her axes, Crusher and Butcher, inside before locking the chest again. "There. Happy now," Yrsa said in annoyance as she hid her key again.

"Yrsa, we've talked about th-" "I know, I know. I'm just whining," Yrsa said dismissively before returning to her couch and flopped down. Taking off her heavy looking vambraces which she dropped on the carpet with a heavy thud.

"Tiresome return trip?" Dartz then asked, seeing as the wavy haired bear faunus looked dead tired.

"You have no idea," Yrsa said just as they heard footsteps coming in from the hallway that led to the stairs which in turn led to the bedrooms.

"Mommy!" Screamed a six year old girl in honey colored pajamas and what looked like mittens on her hands. The girl had dark brown curly hair and dark eyes. She also had a dark skin, but somewhat lighter than Yrsa's. Then the girl practically dashed to Yrsa before pouncing on the strongest faunus alive.

The said faunus reacted quickly and caught the girl before hugging her tightly. "Is this my baby girl Ezra," Yrsa cooed at her daughter.

"So you wouldn't go to sleep after all," Dartz sighed at the girl who was supposed to be sleeping by now. He seriously regrets revealing that Yrsa was coming home, because the little girl went on a tangent of questions on when mommy would be home.

"Mommy's back," Ezra said, ignoring her father for now.

"I told you," Yrsa said as she released the hug, but was still smiling widely, "I may be gone whenever and for however long, but I will always come back." Then Yrsa looked around to see that Valerian is nowhere to be found, much to the mama bear's dismay. "Ezra, where is your brother?"

At this, Ezra looked down a little, "Big brother said he doesn't care."

"He, what?" Yrsa asked, totally confused. Valerian was two years older, but he was always overjoyed whenever mommy returned home.

"Valerian has grown distant from us," Dartz said with a frown, "I called the school to ask if there was something going on there, but they said that everything was fine. According to them, our boy is a model student."

"I see," Yrsa said, before getting up. She still had Ezra in her arms, "I suppose I'll have a word with him in the morning."

"I was thinking about taking a few hours off tomorrow so we both could," Dartz said. The good thing about owning a Dust Shop was that you can decide the business hours yourself. Not to say it hasn't been difficult while managing two kids and a wife that wasn't home too often, but Dartz has managed thanks to daycare and driving his kids to school in the mornings. Although that's not to say that Yrsa doesn't do her part when she is home. Whenever she chooses to take extended breaks from missions, she makes sure to spend those breaks with her darling children.

"Sounds like a plan," Yrsa said as she started carrying the now sleepy Ezra to the room she and Valerian shared.

As soon as Yrsa started going upstairs, Dartz began to brainstorm tomorrows menu. It would be Saturday so the kids would definitely want their candies of the day. The large man chuckled as he remembered that one time Valerian and Ezra stole candy from the storage room. He made the two clean up the house and made a point to nag at them to do it properly, just to ensure that they learned that stealing has consequences.

"Get away from me you filthy animal!" was the shout that snapped Dartz out of his thoughts.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" Was the roar of Yrsa that followed.

"_What is going on up there?_" Dartz thought as he ran upstairs to Valerian's and Ezra's room. He ran even faster when he started to hear crying. "What is going on- Yrsa!" Dartz shouted as he entered the room and saw that Yrsa had grabbed Valerian by arm and had raised her other hand to slap the boy. "What are you doing?!" the large man all but demanded while Ezra was crying under her blanket in her bed. The shout of her husband momentarily made the faunus woman pause.

"Get this disgusting animal away from me!" Valerian screamed as he was struggling violently, even going so far as punching Yrsa in the face. This kid was eight years old and Yrsa was a fully trained and very accomplished huntress, so it barely registered as a slap to her. But it didn't stop her from getting angrier.

"You little!" Yrsa yelled before attempting to slap the boy. However, Dartz acted faster than one would expect from a man of his size and grabbed Yrsa's wrist before she could strike. "Dartz, let go," Yrsa said angrily.

"No." The large man said firmly before prying the angered mother bear off of their adoptive son and dragged her some ways away. Despite their size difference, Yrsa was still insanely strong, not to mention stubborn when she wants to be.

"Dartz! He called me a-" "I heard what he called you," Dartz interrupted firmly, "Take Ezra and go to our room." Yrsa opened her mouth to protest. "Yrsa." Dartz said with a more tender look, "Please."

At those words, Yrsa took calming breaths until she was able to think more rationally. Then she moved to the blanket cocoon where their daughter had no doubt curled into a ball, still sobbing away. "Ezra," Yrsa said tenderly, slowly lifting the blanket to see her terrified daughter crying her eyes out. "Your father is going to talk to Valerian. And we need to give them some privacy. Can you come to mommy's and daddy's room until then," Yrsa said in a significantly calmer voice at the sight of her terrified daughter. Unable to speak up due to her sobbing, Ezra nodded. With that, Yrsa picked up her daughter with her blanket and pillow and took the little one to the room she and Dartz shared.

Although Dartz stopped his wife with a hand to her shoulder. "Darling, I promise I will get to the bottom of this," Dartz said before giving a quick peck to his wife's cheek.

"I know you will," Yrsa said with a sad smile before leaving the room.

With his dangerous wife gone for the moment, Dartz turned to give his son a stony look. "Now, then. Why did you say that to your mother," the large and now very intimidating man asked Valerian who looked fearful.

"Those filthy animals shouldn't be here," Valerian said in a small voice.

"Valerian Dharke!" That made the boy flinch. "If you call your mother or sister that one more time, I will give you the punishment that your mother intended."

"They are not my family!" Valerian insisted with a scream and hid under his blanket. But after a few stomps the blanket was removed and a large hand had grabbed Valerian's arm and lifted the boy back up. Not painfully but firmly enough to keep him still.

"You will now listen to me boy, and I don't want to hear any backtalk!" Dartz said firmly with suppressed anger, "I am your father, and that woman and girl you just called 'filthy animals' are your mother and little sister! And you, Valerian, are not yourself. You have been antisocial, reclusive, and now this."

Valerian turned his eyes away from his father with a fearful look. "...But you said it was right," the little boy practically whimpered.

This made Dartz tighten his grip on Valerian's arm ever so slightly, "Valerian, if I ever said something like that I would most assuredly remember."

"But they said you told them so," Valerian whimpered.

"Who?" Dartz said in a demanding tone. Valerian clammed up, trembling uncontrollably before bursting into tears. At this point Dartz realized that his son was terrified of something. So he changed tactic, switching his grip to Valerian's shoulders before slowly sliding his hands to the boy's face and gently move the eight year old boy's face to him. It wasn't until little Valerian's eyes met his father's that the said father gave a sad look, "Valerian, you can tell me. Who told you I was okay with this?"

The little puffy haired boy sniffled before saying a single word that made Dartz see red. "The teachers."

"Teachers told you that I was okay with you calling your mother and sis- no, faunus, animals?" Dartz asked realizing what was going on.

"...And the beatings," Valerian whispered.

"What?" Now larger of the parents was even more worried for his son, "What beatings?"

"They said that you told them to beat me until I stopped thinking those animals are anything else," Valerian explained, before closing his eyes,"Please don't hit me anymore."

"Valerian," Dartz sounded out, before pulling his son into a comforting hug, "Those teachers lied to you. I didn't even know about the beatings. What they did was wrong, and now they made you hate your own family. I'm so sorry, I should have realized something was wrong sooner." At this point, Valerian broke down in more tears, hugging his father back.

In the double bed of Yrsa and Dartz, Ezra was being comforted by her mother. "Mommy... Why did big brother say those things," Ezra asked, snuggling closer to her mother.

"I don't know, Ezra," Yrsa admitted, "But your father is looking into it. And when he gets the truth, I'm sure that your brother will apologize." Truthfully, she wasn't sure if this was something that could be fixed. Valerian's words hurt Yrsa more than the time she lost her eye, and that's saying something.

"...But what if daddy hates us too," Ezra asked with a sniffle.

"Ezra, your father loves us too much to even think about something like that," Yrsa said as she rocked her daughter in her arms, giving as tender looks as she could with her slightly weathered face and the eyepatch that covered her missing left eye.

"How do you know," Ezra asked, no, pleaded from her mother with her now puffy eyes.

"Because if your father didn't love me, then we wouldn't have you," Yrsa said before kissing the top of Ezra's head, "And because of this, your father also loves you."

At this explanation, Ezra took out her mitten covered hands from under the blanket before taking out one of them to reveal her hands that had bear claws. "Then... why do I have to hide my claws when I go to bed?"

Yrsa shook her head at the odd question. They had been over this numerous times, but perhaps one more time wouldn't hurt, "Because you like to tear your bed apart in your sleep. These mittens prevent that." Although there was also the time Ezra accidentally scratched Valerian enough to draw blood when she was a toddler. Knowing that until Ezra became older she might not be able to control herself, which is why they got her mittens that are meant for faunus that have non-retractable claws. They would stop her from tearing things apart until she learns to be careful with them on her own. Although nowdays Ezra only really needs the mittens to sleep without accidentally tearing her bed in her sleep.

After some time, Ezra fell asleep and Yrsa had laid her down on the bed, watching her little girl breath softly as her mitten covered hands moved around idly. Just then a light knock was heard from the bedroom door, which Yrsa took as her cue to see if Dartz had figured out why that little bast- No! She mustn't think that. With that, the huntress opened the door and sure enough, it was Dartz and he didn't look pleased. Stepping out of the room, Yrsa crossed her arms. "What did you find," Yrsa asked with a hard look.

Dartz let out a sigh, "I'll sleep this night on the couch, you and Ezra take the bed for tonight." With those words, Dartz was about to move inside the room to get an extra blanket and pillow inside.

Only to be blocked by Yrsa stepping in front of the door. "You didn't answer my question," Yrsa said more firmly.

"...It's complicated," Dartz said cryptically.

Yrsa didn't like that answer, "Bullshit. What made Valerian say that?" It took every ounce of the Raging Demon's willpower not to live up to that moniker right now.

"If I told you, what would you do," Dartz asked with a hard look.

"...Depending on the cause I would nip it in the bud," Yrsa said with a suspicious look.

"In that case I'm definitely not telling," Dartz said, earning a scowl from his wife. "Before you explode on me, I will fix this. I just need you to trust me for a while," the large man said before Yrsa said anything.

"...How," Yrsa decided to ask, deciding to give the fat bastard the benefit of the doubt.

"That's a secret, but I WILL take care of it. I promise," Dartz said with a resolved look, "This isn't something that can be solved with brute force."

A gaze that Yrsa held with her lone eye. "...Fine then," Yrsa relented, "But if you can't fix this... I will beat that little shit."

"You don't mean that," Dartz said with a sympathetic tone.

"Yes I do," Yrsa said as she turned away to return to the room, "Just... get the blankets and jump on the couch."

Dartz did as told, not bothering to call Yrsa out on her voice cracking at the last part. The man knew that his wife still had insecurities about being a mother despite doing a stellar job on it. In his opinion anyway. So hearing the faunus slurs from their son must have hurt her very deeply.

"_The Vale Royal Academy has hurt my family,_" Dartz thought as he opened the couch to reveal it worked as a retractable bed. Something they both forgot back when Summer first visited. Bless her kind soul. "_I will make them pay for that, but it will be done my way._" With those dark thoughts, Dartz went to the couch bed, already laying the groundwork for his scheme to destroy that wretched school that teaches children to hate faunus through abuse.

On the Saturday evening, a club in the shadier side of Vale was about ready to open when an old looking car parks in front of it and Dartz steps out of it. He closed the shop earlier than usual to be here.

"Sorry sir, we're not open yet," a bouncer at the front says to the larger man.

"I need to speak with your boss," Dartz says in a cold tone and a stony look on his face.

"W-we're not open yet sir," the bouncer said actually trembling at the guy who looks like could snap him like a twig.

"...Here's what's going to happen, you go in there, find your boss and tell him that the vultures are coming for beans at this very moment," Dartz then said in a more friendly tone.

"Huh?" the bouncer asked in a confused tone.

"He'll understand," Dartz said with an amused look, "Now move it!"

With those words, the bouncer ran inside to his boss, leaving Dartz to move next to the door and wait. "Three, two, one." Dartz counted and then the door opened and a hail of bullets came from inside, but because Dartz was standing next to the door, hidden from view, he wasn't even close to the line of fire. Soon enough, the hail of bullets stops and out comes a tall man with a short black hair and a full face beard, carrying a rocket launcher.

As soon as the guy steps out, Dartz placed his hand inside his large coat and pulls out a large shotgun and cocks it on the side of the man's head. "You have an interesting way of greeting your old friends, Hei," Dartz told to the man he knew was the boss of this establishment.

At this the man named Hei placed his hands in the air before slowly turning to Dartz with a fearful look which soon turned into a scowl. "Dartz! Why did you use that codephrase," Hei asked with an annoyed look. That was code for, "Death is coming to get you", so the bearded man expected the worst.

"Wanted to see if you were still the boss around here," Dartz replied with a small smirk before putting his shotgun back inside his coat, "Anyway, I have business with you so is there anywhere secure we can talk in?"

Hei sighed before motioning inside, "Follow me, the VIP lounge is secure enough."

"Not until you tell your boys to stand down," Dartz shot back with a knowing look.

This made Hei chuckle a little, "You haven't changed. It's alright boys, get back to work!" As soon as Hei shouted that inside the "boys" that still had their guns in the air walked to the different parts of the club that their boss works as a front. With that, Dartz follows Hei into the VIP lounge reserved for... "Special Guests". "So, what brings you to my establishment," Hei asked as he took out a bottle from the mini fridge inside, also depositing his weapon next to the couch he would occupy, "Want a drink?"

"No thanks," Dartz said as he took a seat at the plush couch that was no doubt reserved for guests while looking around the room, spotting a few cameras that were well hidden if you didn't know what you were looking for. No doubt Hei would use this to blackmail people dumb enough to not have a suitable out. Which Dartz so happens to have from a long time ago. "And I was wondering what you know about Vale Royal Academy," Dartz then asked as he fully relaxed while keeping his eyes on Hei who returned to the opposite couch with a drink for himself.

"I know it's one of, if not the most prestigious non-combat academy in Vale," Hei replied easily.

"Surely you have more info than that," Dartz spoke up with a small smile before leaning a little forward.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," Hei replied before Dartz dug into a pocket and tossed out a decent amount of lien on the table. The black bearded information broker chuckled. "Alright, they train the students there to hate faunus through beatings, locking them in dark rooms for hours and sometimes electric shocks, from what I have heard anyway," Hei says with a small shrug.

"How have they been getting away with it," Dartz asked as he dropped another stack of lien on the table.

"Simple, they lie to the students that their parents approve of what is done to them," Hei replies with another shrug, "And even if some of them did suspect something they have someone in the police department who ensures that their crusade stays off the radar."

"I see, and how much do they pay the guy," Dartz asks out of curiosity.

"That detail I'm not privy to yet," Hei replied easily, "And I also don't know who the dirty cop is so don't waste another stack."

"If I asked you to gather more information, would you do that," Dartz then asked as he reigned in his temper of hearing that there's a corrupt cop in Vale. At least the ones at Atlas had integrity when it came to the safety of their human population. Emphasis on "human".

"I could," Hei replied as he crossed a leg,"But it will cost you."

"Money is not an issue," Dartz said easily, "Half now and another half later?"

Hei smiled at the offer, "No, we gather the intel and you come with the full payment, when we have it."

"And how would I know when you have it?" Dartz asked with a skeptical look.

"You could give me your Scroll number," Hei offered with a small smirk.

"Over my rotting corpse," Dartz said in a grave tone.

"That could be arranged, you know," Hei said with a hard look.

"You can't do that," Dartz said with a glare.

"My bar has lots of armed men," Hei then said as he put the glass down and adjusted his red tie, "Even with your trusty shotgun, I doubt you can get out of here alive."

"Let me rephrase that," Dartz said with a smug grin, "You WON'T do that."

"And why is that," Hei asked, finally feeling nervous.

"Because then a certain general of Atlas will receive untraceable documents of your dark past and all the other information on you, which you have gone great lengths to hide," Dartz said with shit eating grin.

"You really haven't lost your touch," Hei said with a defeated sigh, "Fine, when do you want the info?" He knew that what Dartz had was something that would get Atlas Military of all forces on his ass. Then again, Dartz always had a relatively healthy paranoia, always preparing for the worst case scenario.

"Next Friday, 11:00 pm," Dartz said simply.

Hei sighed at that, "Getting the info in that span of time won't be easy."

"Money isn't an issue," Dartz said again.

"We have a deal," Hei then said before extending a hand to shake. Even if Dartz doesn't pay, information is information. Something he could exploit easily, no matter the outcome.

"Deal." Dartz shook Hei's hand with a grin. With that, they got up, "Now get the job done, Beanpole." Dartz used the old petname for Hei who was a little skinnier back in the day.

"Sure thing, boss," Hei replied playfully to the man who indeed was his boss once upon a time.

Dartz chuckled as he exited the VIP lounge and then the club where guests had started pouring in.

About a week later Dartz returned to club which had a lot of guests at this time of night. The suited men were expecting him so they escorted him to the VIP lounge.

Soon enough, Dartz entered the VIP lounge with Hei waiting for him. "So, what have you got," Dartz spoke up.

"Straight to business I see," Hei said with a small sigh.

"Cut the small talk Beanpole! I'm in a hurry," Dartz said with an angered look. As much as he didn't want his son to go to that school again he had let it happen so it wouldn't look suspicious. Thankfully the boy was able to keep his head down enough to not earn any of the teacher's attention. He even checked him for any possible new bruises which the boy thankfully lacked.

"Right," Hei said before taking out a folder and dropping it on the table. "I managed to find out that the cop was being payed in footages," the information broker opened, "And that the headmaster is using some of the profits from the Council's educational budget to fund anti-faunus organizations, which would crumble if they lost that support."

"Sounds promising," Dartz said with a grin as he went over the folder, "Can you specify the footage?"

"Videos of children being beaten," Hei replied with a frown. He may be a criminal, but he does have some standards, "Some people have weird fetishes."

"Don't I know it," Dartz muttered darkly. If there weren't legal issues he would tell Yrsa about this so that she could go and slaugther them all. But he had to do this in a way that doesn't trace back to him, so that no one can take actions against him or his family. Which is also why he was keeping his wife in the dark about this affair.

"Why are you interested in this," Hei then chose to ask.

"That's not part of the deal," Dartz replied easily.

"You always had a particularly soft spot for kids," Hei said in amusement.

"Which, as I recall was part of the reason you were loyal to me," Dartz shot back with a knowing look, "Is this everything?" The large shopkeep then asked with a frown.

"You'll get the rest when I see the money," Hei replied simply. With those words, Dartz took out a small briefcase and opened it. Revealing large stacks of lien inside. Hei took one of the stacks to inspect them. "Alright," Hei then said before moving to his desk and removing a rather sizeable briefcase, "Enclosed in this briefcase should be all the things you need to take them down."

"What makes you think I want to take them down," Dartz asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Hei scoffed at that,"Oh please, we took down other gangs back in Atlas who committed crimes you didn't like."

"True," Dartz replied with a grin having a particularly fond memory of introducing a faunus trafficker to his shotgun many years ago while the guy was begging for mercy. He really had a good thing going on in Atlas when he made the military itself look like idiots. Perhaps that was the catalyst for the idiots of the other gangs to unite and storm Atlas Academy itself in an attempt to take over the Kingdom and turn it into criminal empire. A plan Dartz knew was doomed, which was part of the reason he disbanded his group and left the Kingdom before shit hit the fan. Snapping himself out of the memory lane, Dartz opened the briefcase to check the contents. It contained security footages from school itself, personal files from some of the teachers and even the contacts of the dirty cop. In other words, everything he would need to take the wretched school down. "You really went up and beyond for me," Dartz said before shutting the briefcase and rising up. "Pleasure doing business with you, Junior." The criminal turned shopkeep said as he offered a hand.

"The pleasure is mine... Dirge," Hei said back, using Dartz's moniker that once shook the Atlas underworld. At least until the then Major Ironwood began his crusade to purge the crime from the Kingdom after the attack on Atlas Academy that came to be known as Criminal Uprising. But by then, Dartz and all of his gang had left the Kingdom and gone their separate ways. Including Hei who was their info gatherer at the time.

Few weeks later, Vale Royal Academy was shut down after the police gained a mysterious package that contained incriminating evidence of the school's practices. Right on the day that one of the officers had an accident the night prior and couldn't come to work. After which they found evidence on the hospitalized officer accepting bribes from the school to keep them off the radar. Naturally, all the students from the first grade to the ninth were moved to other schools after most of the parents pressed charges on all the staff involved with the abuse of their kids. Sadly there were few who didn't care what happened to their kids and were more upset about the best school of Vale being shut down. Those parents quickly got Child Protective Services on their asses. Afterwards, most of the children were also seeing a therapist per their parent's wishes. Including Valerian, who Dartz ensured got a therapist that would not only help his son recover from the trauma but also undo any and all anti-faunus drivel he was fed.

When Yrsa eventually heard about what happened to the school, she was furious about not being told sooner. But the Raging Demon calmed down when Dartz explained that he couldn't risk her going out there, killing them and then being locked up for mass murder. Yrsa wasn't happy, but she accepted the reasoning, especially when Dartz mentioned what happens to those who were put in jail for child molestation or anything similar. The other inmates have their way with them. An image that spread a bloodthirsty grin on Yrsa's face.

As for Valerian, after several sessions the boy apologized to his mother and sister about what he called them. Something that made Yrsa and Ezra happy, despite the younger girl not fully understanding what was going on. But no one was more happy than Dartz who feared that the family he had gained after quitting crime and going legit would be torn apart by this incident.

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**AN: There we go. Dartz was a criminal in Atlas before moving to Vale and going legit. Although he was nicer than most, which doesn't exactly take much effort when comparing to crooks like Torchwick and Cinder. Though the former was entertaining.**


End file.
